Ponencia nº 2.-Parks & in Egypt Presented By Arch. Gihan Fikry Amin

Egyptian History in a Quick Preview

A- Kingdoms

• Ancient Kingdom (Dynasty I-X) 3000-2130 B.C Memphis the first capital was founded by King Menes, the three Great pyramids were built by Cheops, Chephren and Mykernios, as a result of their belief in afterlife. The pyramids contained all the basic necessities and their treasures that would return to them. • Middle Kingdom ( Dynasty XI- XVII) 2130-1580 B.C Irrigation started in this dynasty where Amenmhat III started an irrigation system in Fayoum. • New Empire ( Dynasties XVIII-XXX) ,1580-322B.C Amasis expelled the first conquerors (Hyksos) to Egypt from the delta, Thebes was the second capital, and Akhnaten founded Tel el Amarna to be the third capital.

B- Ptolemaic Period (332-30 B.C) Alexander the Great founded Alexandria as the capital and it became the center of the Greek culture.

C- Roman Period (30 B.C-A.D395) were Egypt under Caesar entered to another phase of prosperity, Christianity was declared to be the recognized religion of the state.

D- Byzantine Period (A.D 395-639) Egypt was ruled by Eastern roman emperors from Constantinople E- Arab Period (A.D639-Present) • Early Islamic Egypt( 639-868)Amr Ibn Al As enters Egypt from Syria, Muslim armies form Fustat (the capital) • Arab period started by Abbasids entering Egypt and founding al Askar in 750, followed by the Tulunidis, then the Ikhshids, Fatimids and Ayyubids. • Fatimids(969-1171) Jawhar al Siqili founded al Qahira • Ayyubids(1171-1250) Construction of the Citadel in 1171, in 1187 Salah El Din recaptures Jerusalem .Al Saleh Ayyub builds an army of Turkish slaves ( Mamlouks) • F- Ottoman Rule • G- French Influence • H- British Protectorate • 1922 Egypt became an independent State.

Why gardens?

• Belief in afterlife Throughout History the people of Egypt still held on their belief in afterlife. Romans, Muslims, Christians, Persians and prior to them all the ancient Egyptians all shared the same concept of paradise. Their visions included a paradise watered by four rivers, the world divided into four sections, with a pool or spring of life at the center and Traditional Islamic gardens are usually divided by four canals or channels of water, often with a pool or fountain at their juncture. This is where the main designs of gardens came from as all the generations were striving to create their paradise on earth.

• Social Reasons Gardens throughout history were used for relaxation, outdoor eating, children's’ play and the cultivation of beautiful and edible . Knowledge of these gardens comes from Egyptian tomb paintings, made so that pharaohs could enjoy in the after-life similar comforts to those they had enjoyed in the early stage of their existence.

• Artistic Reasons GARDENS were very popular and played a large part in the lives of ancient Egyptians. Gardens were much to them, highly esteemed, and allowing garden owners to see life nicely regulated within the large or small strip of land Temple gardens are the oldest surviving manifestation of the quest to make outdoor space as works of art

Gardens and Irrigation

• There are two main traditions in : the Eastern and the Western. The Eastern tradition is rooted in the gardens of China while the Western tradition is rooted in the gardens of and Mesopotamia. Because Egypt and Mesopotamia were separated from each other by desert, their cultures tended to develop independently. • One of the main reasons why civilizations developed in Egypt and Mesopotamia was because there was very little rainfall, both civilizations were rooted in the need for elaborate irrigation systems; Middle Eastern gardens have sometimes been called “gardens of irrigation”. The formal gardens of Western Civilization evolved out of this agricultural system of geometric plots which were watered by straight irrigation ditches. • The Iranian plateau is even more arid than the river valleys of Egypt and Mesopotamia; have always celebrated water, but water has always been a valuable resource which had to be managed carefully. Most water on the plateau came from the surrounding mountains where melting snows produced streams and rivers which usually dried up during the hot summers. The solution to the water shortage was to construct underground aqueducts (or quants) which lead water from the mountains to fields and villages on the plateau; this practice dates back to the sixth century B.C.

Influences affecting garden designs

• The history of the Middle East is one of empires conquering each other. At the time that Alexander the Great conquered Persia, both Egypt and Mesopotamia were part of the Persian Empire and the Persia had fully absorbed the garden traditions of both civilizations. Greece had never been known for its ornamental gardens. This was partially because much of the soil was poor • Alexander’s generals carved up his empire into a number of kingdoms after his death. In these kingdoms, Classical Greek culture combined with the local cultures, this produced a hybrid, international culture which we call Hellenistic. Hellenistic gardens weren’t just descended from the agricultural traditions; they were also descended from the hunting parks of ancient Assyria. The Assyrians had ruled parts of Persia and the Persian monarchs continued their tradition of creating hunting parks.” • The Hellenistic tradition of garden design was absorbed by Romans when they conquered the Middle East and it survived in the Middle East after the eastern part of the Roman Empire became the Christian Byzantine Empire.

• After the Western part of the Roman Empire collapsed, ornamental gardens were rare in Western Europe. Early Medieval gardens were almost always utilitarian, although some monastic gardens seem to have retained the formal lines of Hellenistic gardens. With the Islamic conquest of Spain in the eighth century, ornamental gardens were re-introduced to Western Europe. During the Crusades of the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries many knights experienced Byzantine and Islamic gardens and returned to their castles with a desire to create ornamental gardens.

Ancient Egyptian Periods

• Ancient Egyptians designed and thrived in Garden Houses, it was not modern architect who invented the Garden House concept. •

• Ancient Egyptian gardens often consisted of both trees and other plants. There were about eighteen varieties of trees grown by the Egyptians. Popular trees included the sycamore fig, , nut trees and jujube. Willows, acacia and tamarisk were also there. •

• From an enclosed yard with a few fruit trees to botanical and zoological gardens with exotic trees, ponds, often stocked with fish, and caged animals and birds, gardens are depicted in many tombs. •

• Sacred gardens had ponds , papyrus, flowers and vegetables, as represented schematically in ancient tomb drawings. There were exotic trees that were brought from the new countries subdued during the New Kingdom and planted in sacred "botanical" gardens. • In the country the houses and palaces were set in a large garden surrounded by a wall .

Sometimes there was more than one pond, and a garden could be divided into areas . In one case, • The front section had a rectangular pond parallel to the river, with water plants in it, and there were also date palms and sycamores.

• A second section in the middle area was enclosed within a wall and planted with light green trees that were perhaps rare species to give the garden owner privacy.

• A rear section was the largest area and again has a rectangular pond bordered on one side by date palms and on the other by sycamores. Near this rear section was a small open kiosk. On either long side of the whole garden an enclosed path was planted with trees of alternating species, while tall trees formed an effective screen at the back of the estate.

Domestic Gardens • The earliest surviving detailed garden plan, dating from about 1400 BC, is of a garden belonging to an Egyptian high court official at Thebes. The main entrance is aligned on a pergola (trellis-bordered) walk of vines leading directly to the dwelling. The rest of the garden is laid out with tree-lined avenues, four rectangular ponds containing waterfowl, and two garden pavilions.

• Private dwellings, like temples, were rectangular enclosures bounded by high walls. The geometry of garden compounds appears more symmetrical than that of temples but, since there are no physical examples, this may be no more than artist’s license. Regularity comes naturally to the artist and is less likely to appear on the ground, except when gardens are made with paper plans and surveying equipment. Egyptian domestic gardens were places for bodily comfort, with fruit trees, flowers, pools, pot plants, vine-clad pergolas and places to sit, in winter sun or summer shade.

Temple Gardens • They were used by priests and pharaohs, though members of the oldest garden survivals are the temple compounds of ancient Egypt public might be admitted on festival days. The design of temples helped to explain the nature of the world and the social order, as we now do through science, religion, art, history and politics. • Axial lines were used but the overall geometry was non-symmetrical. Temples were built in rectangular compounds bounded by high walls. The internal space was in part ceremonial and in part laid to gardens. Temples were linked by avenues, lined with trees, sphinxes and statues. The line of the avenue ran into the compound and led through a series of processional gates to a hypostyle hall and then an inner sanctum, the holy of holies. The basic construction materials were stone and mud brick.

Cairo During Different Periods (The story behind each garden)

• Cairo is one of the cities that have a long history of parks and green spaces. In fact, the city of ‘al-Qahira’ was originally founded around a bustan, which means a park, a location chosen by the Fatimid army in 969. In the nineteenth century, under the reign of Muhammed Ali and his successors, open green spaces were further developed and given special attention as Cairo was being planned along the lines of European cities and models. • This was particularly true during the reign of Khedive Ismael who ruled in 1863. He saw in following the European models a way of transforming Cairo and attaining his aspired modern urban city. • Open green and public spaces were an important element of that modern look and hence, during his rule, many sophisticated and beautiful parks were developed. However, not many have survived the twentieth century due to modern developments and urban sprawl.

• One of the first gardens created by Ismael Pasha was the ‘Qanater Gardens’ in 1834. Though the original park was designed on 500 hectares, only 150 remain open to the public today. • Another famous green space that has survived is the Gardens of Gezira Palace. It is now better known as the Marriott Gardens; making up the grounds of the Marriot Hotel in Zamalek. For many years throughout the history of Cairo, Zamalek or ‘El- Gezira’ meaning the island was a green paradise you can spot from almost anywhere along either bank of the . • The island's landscapes were designed by De la Chevalerie , who had once done the landscape designs for the City of Paris. • The Gardens of Gezira were originally spread on 2,200 hectares; the Khedival - later to be the Gezira- Sporting Club in which were the race course and polo field that previously surrounded the royal residence, the Marriott Gardens and to the west of the estate lay the Fish Garden formerly named the ‘Grotto Garden’. • These were all parts which formed a huge park attached to the Gezira Estate. . • Later on, the palace grounds were divided. The building of the Gezira Sporting Club took place in late 1882 and hence was no longer part of the palace gardens.

Al Orman Garden and the Zoo Giza Al Orman Garden is famous for it’s various and rare species. The Orman Garden is a rich beautiful that was also a part of Khedive Ismael's land. There is a wide range of flowers, trees and plants from South America, Africa and India. It is an enjoyable and delightful place to visit and picnic. The Zoological Garden –now the Giza Zoo- was also initiated by the Khedive Ismael in 1872. Originally, it was to be named the Giza Gardens, situated on a plot of 2,750 hectares, but it was finally inaugurated during the reign of his son, Khedive Tawfik in 1892 as a public Zoo.

Aquarium Grotto Park Cairo

Ismael’s Grotto Garden was completed in 1867 on nine and half acres of his private property. It was once one of Cairo's highlights as it was one of the few 19th century gardens open to the public. It was a garden of plants and home to the Khedive's exotic plants shipped from all over the world and it also housed his collection of fish and reptiles from the Nile and Africa. • In the early 1900s, Captain Stanley Flower introduced the Fish Garden; as he added aquariums in the old grottos of the garden, it became home of a rare collection of African fish. • The Fish Garden was rehabilitated and reconstructed in 2000. The Garden also known as the Gabalayia Garden or the Aquarium Grotto Garden was completely restored; damaged parts were rebuilt while retaining all original features. • The rehabilitation project included plans to expand an existing lake within the garden. Now it is divided into two parts, one for ducks and geese and the other for swans. The park is in particular characteristic for the grottos and tunnels which house interesting fish aquarium. The aquarium settings are fairly original and the walk through the grottos is very pleasant. The garden is now illuminated with indirect lighting so that the scenery can also be enjoyed by night.

• For you out there planning to visit Egypt and the park, it is quite close to the downtown areas; however, the fascinating thing is that once there, one feels distant from the busy streets and crowds. • Al Andalus Garden Cairo

The Andalusia Garden was established in 1929 by Zulfugar Pasha as a present to his wife originally founded to be a private roller-skating garden for the royal family, who then donated the garden to the public. It overlooks the Nile and has three sections: the first, al- Ferdous with an arabesque design and architecture; the second, in an Andalusian style with mosaic steps and a royal hall; and the third, a Pharaonic section with replicas from ancient Egyptian statues. This garden covers an area of 8,400 square meters .

Ezbakeia Garden Cairo

Constructed for Muhammad Ali Pasha in the year 1837 Another focal point of the city's life, now superseded by the Midan el-Tahrir, was the beautiful Ezbekiya Gardens (formerly a lake) on the edge of the old Arab town. The gardens, laid out in 1870 under the direction of M. Barillet, a landscape from Paris, contain a profusion of exotic bushes and plants, including an Indian banyan (Ficus bengalensis) whose aerial roots constantly form new trunks.

Abdeen Palace & Garden.Cairo

Al Suhaymi House Garden.Cairo • Further on in history, the architectural style of Islamic houses ‘Manzil’ always included a courtyard, in which green spaces was an essential element. Nevertheless, these were usually enclosed areas due to conservative ideologies and the clear separation between public (salamlik) and private spaces (Haramlik)

• The house of al-Suhaymi, built in 1648 with additions in 1796, is a Cairene house from the Ottoman period. In addition to the open spaces, the salamlik included the takhtabush (a large benched area which opens onto the courtyard like an iwan where business transactions were carried out in the morning), the second-story maq'ad (an informal reception area used usually in the evenings), and the qa'a (the formal reception hall). The haramlik section, which includes a qa'a, as well as private apartments and a bath, is located above the ground floor and is reached by a separate flight of stairs in the courtyard. The different spaces of the haramlik overlook the courtyard through openings concealed by mashrabiyyas, screens created from pieces of turned wood, that allowed women of the household to enjoy the view without being seen by the guests in the courtyard.

Social patterns and family values were not the only factors instrumental in determining the spatial configurations of Cairene houses. The real ingenuity of their designs lies in the structural modifications introduced into traditional spaces (like the qa'a, maq'ad, takhtabush, etc.) to produce autonomous spatial units adapted to climatic conditions. While the open courtyard functions as a temperature regulator, diffusing cool air which it retained from the night into the rooms of the house during the day, the spatial units that look onto it have varying temperatures during the day, depending on their orientation to the sun. The takhtabush provides a cool sitting area in the morning; the maq'ad, which always faces north to catch the prevailing wind, is the favorite entertainment area in the evening. The qa'a is an indoor space which can be conveniently heated in the winter. The domed opening in the roof of the central part of the qa'a, which acts as an outlet for hot air, along with high ceilings, a water fountain below the domed opening, thick walls, marble surfaces, and the mashrabiyya screens keep the interior of the qa'a cool in the summer. Finally, cold air is conducted to the inner parts of the house through a malqaf or wind catcher. Climatic adaptations transcend typical utilitarian designations of the various units; activities are shifted from one unit to the other according to the hours of the day and the seasons.

Al Musafir khana Palace & Garden.Cairo • Style/Period: Ottoman • Century18th

• The Musafirkhana Palace, built between 1779 and 1888, burnt to the ground in November 1998 -- a very great loss to the architecture of Islamic Cairo. • The residence was built by Mahmud Muharram, an influential and wealthy merchant who traded between Egypt and the Hijaz.. • At the beginning of the 19th century Muharram's house was acquired by Muhammad 'Ali and later used by his family as a royal guest house for distinguished visitors and emissaries. Khedive Isma'il was born in a room above the dining room. • The palace's rooms are arranged around a central courtyard.

The Citadel. Cairo

• Client:Qaraqush, lieutenant of Salah al-Din • Constructed 1183 -1176 • Enlarged in 13th-14th c . • Style/PeriodAyyubid , Mamlouk, Ottoman Centuries:12 th, 14th 16th. • Building Types: government, military, palatial. • The Citadel of Cairo was built by a lieutenant of the Ayyubid ruler Salah al-Din between 1176-1183 as a royal residence and military barracks. Over the course of its long history as the seat of government for the Ayyubid, Mamlouk, Ottoman, and Khedival rulers of Egypt from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries, the Citadel has been reorganized and enlarged in six major stages.

Japanese Garden. Helwan The was established in 1917 by Zulfugar Pasha, a resident of Helwan, as a present to Sultan Hussein. Landscaped in an Asian style, the garden included many Buddha statues and mythical animals .

Al Fustat Garden.Cairo • Date1989 • Century20th • Fustat Garden is presently one of the most important gardens in the city of Cairo and stands in close proximity to the newly completed Al-Azhar Park, in one of the poorest quarters of Cairo. It is the largest garden or man-made park in the city covering an area of two hundred and fifty feddans (equal to 105 hectares) and was developed from a dumping ground known as Abou al-Souod.

Al Azhar Park.Cairo

• The Al-Azhar Park is important for tourists to Egypt because this hilly site is surrounded by the most significant historic districts of Islamic Cairo. The creation of the 30 hectare (74 acre) Al-Azhar Park on Al-Darassa, by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, came when his highness the Aga Khan decided to donate a park to the citizens of Cairo in 1984, out of the Islamic belief that we are all trustees of God’s creation and therefore must seek to leave the world a better place than it was before us.

The park functions as a ‘green lung’ because of its enormous potential, being located at the center of a historic location. It was clear that Cairo needed more green space. One study found that the amount of green space per inhabitant was roughly equivalent to the size of a footprint, one of the lowest proportions in the world. The park is the largest green space created in Cairo in over a century, reversing a trend in which unchecked development has virtually eradicated the city's once famous parks .

• Before work started, Al Darassa was a municipal rubbish dump. The builders had to clear a 500-year-old accumulation of fill and debris, the equivalent of more than 80,000 truckloads of material which built up here over the centuries. While the site was being prepared major discoveries were made . • These included the discovery of the 12th century Ayyubid city wall of Cairo that was built during the reign of Salah el Din, as well as some valuable stones with hieroglyphic texts. These more ancient blocks, some measuring as much as one meter long, were used in the building of Salah el-Din's wall. To extricate the 12th century Ayyubid wall, which had been buried up to its crenellated battlements, it proved necessary to excavate to a depth of 15 meters. A 1.5-kilometre section of the historic wall, with several towers and battlements almost intact, then appeared in its entire splendor .

• The Al Azhar Park features shaded walkways, a children’s play area, a museum and a stunning hilltop restaurant and lakeside cafe. The generously dimensioned pedestrian paths follow the contours in most areas, allowing for comfortable circuits throughout the entire Park site.

• The Park vegetation vary from dry, succulent plants on the western slopes to lush, grassy meadows with shade trees, to formal gardens and, finally, to bustan-like spaces. The variety of species, particularly native Egyptian plants, will aim at establishing a new benchmark for park spaces in the region .

Parks & Gardens Alexandria

Pompey Pillar.Alexandria • District :Muharram Bey, Kom al-Shugafa • Date:30-48 B.C.E. • One of the oldest monuments that is still standing in Alexandria, built during the roman period

Alexandria International Garden • Architect/Planner: Mohsen Zahran • Date1989Century20thDecade1980s • Designed as an active space, the international garden is 1430m long by 700m wide. The garden comprises a central lake which is surrounded by pavilions, an open-air theatre, festival square, sports fields and playgrounds dominates the garden.

Antoniadis Garden .Alexandria

• The Villa of Antoniadis is a very famous and important site in Alexandria, and yet is not frequented by many tourists. It lies near the Mahmoudia Canal at the southern entrance of Alexandria, and is surrounded by some 48 hectares of greenery in several sections. They include the Antoniadis Garden, the , the Zoological and Botanical Gardens and the Nouzaba (Nuzha) Garden,

• Here, once the venue for military bands, diverse greenery originally planted during the reign of the Khedive Ismael have grown to maturity. The Antoniadis Gardens include beautiful statues and a tropical . The Zoological Gardens were opened in 1907 and cover 25 acres. But watch out. Among the many species of birds are macaws that swear like sailors tutored by long-departed British soldiers.

• This area, known as the Somuha district, was a magnet for wealthy Alexandrians. There were at one time a number of foreigners who also lived here.

• The Antoniadis Palace and its park are constructed as a miniature version of the Palace of Versaille. The Villa and its garden date back to the 19th century, and is mainly used to house a collection of statues sculpted in the Greek style and owned by Sir John Antoniadis. The ground and second floors include 15 rooms each. There are several archeological remains, including a tomb and a cistern.

– The tomb on the grounds, because of its setting in such a paradise-like setting and because of the Agathodaimon (god snake) that decorated its Kline chamber, is popularly known as the "Tomb of Adam and Eve." It is believed to date from the first century BC.

During Sir John Antoniadis lifetime, it was a gathering place for the social elite, and was the scene of much gaiety and many parties. However, Antonis Antoniadis, the son of Sir John Antoniadis, later donated the family mansion, grounds and gardens to the Alexandria Town Council. Afterwards, it was used as a guest house to host visiting dignitaries to Egypt, including the King of Belgium, Greece, Italy, the Shah of Iran and Mohamed Reza Pahlavi, who was married to the Egyptian Princess Fawzia, the sister of King Farouk. The Villa also hosted the signing ceremony of the 1936 agreement between Egypt and Briton.

Al Montazah Palace & Garden. Alexandria

• Client Khedive Abbas II • Centuries19th, 20th • The gardens of Montazah are surrounded by large walls in the south, and the west, and of a beach in north. This sector belonged to the family of Mohammed Ali, reigning family of the middle of the 19th century until 1952. • Construction was started in 1892 by the king Abbas II, who built a large palate called Salamlik. • In 1932, king Fouad built a larger palate called Haramlik. His son, king Farouk, built the pier on the sea. The remainder of space east constitutes gardens. • The gardens at the Montazah Palace are well planned and well kept. It doesn't matter what time of year you visit, the vegetation will always be attractive. •

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